Businesses in Peak District National Park to benefit from international tourism workshop

Businesses in Peak District National Park to benefit from international tourism workshop

Thursday 19 April 2018

Tourism providers in and around the Peak District National Park are invited to attend a free information workshop to learn about a new international tourism programme.

The English National Park Experience Collection – a collection of unique experiences which tell the story of our National Parks and the people who look after them – is being developed for international audiences.

The Peak District National Park Authority worked with other English National Parks to secure support from Visit England’s ‘Discover England Fund’. The £1.2m project aims to develop new products and experiences to attract overseas visitors to explore our National Parks.

While initially the project will be targeting German and Australian visitors, the new products created would be available to all markets.

Each session will cover the background and context to the programme, provide some examples of the experiences being developed and the step change required to deliver these on a global platform.

There will be information on how businesses keen to offer quality experiences to international tourists can apply to be a part of the programme and the benefits they will receive.

Mark Holroyd, Head of Discover England’s National Parks Programme said: “There are opportunities for tourism businesses to get involved, from activity companies and attractions to accommodation providers. A core part of the programme will help businesses to tell the compelling stories of our National Parks to new audiences. You can get involved in either leading or supporting one of the identified experiences. These open workshops are free to attend and we would encourage anyone wanting to find out more to come along.”

Sarah Fowler, chief executive of the Peak District National Park Authority and lead National Park officer for sustainable tourism across the UK, added: “National Parks in England are major contributors to the tourism economy, attracting more than 94 million visitors each year and currently bringing in more than £4 billion of visitor spending in the Parks and surrounding areas, that is almost a quarter of all spending on rural tourism.

“Less than 10% of visitors to our National Parks are international. This programme will be instrumental in bringing in new audiences, growing the value of the international visitor to some of our deeply rural areas, . and growing global support for the care and enjoyment of these iconic, quintessentially English landscapes. All of which will benefit our domestic visitors and rural economy.”

The business support element of the programme is being supported by the expert knowledge and training of Marketing Peak District and Derbyshire.